The Flower That Was Swallowed by the Beast - Chapter 45

As he met his family, Edward became more and more confident in his thoughts.

Even though his father and mother had accepted Iris as ‘their daughter,’ it was Celestine who he found strange.

“Don’t speak ill of my big sister, Eddie. And calling her Iris Whittle, where did you learn your manners?”

Celestine was completely possessed.

Celestine, who Edward knew, would have been more suspicious of Iris than anyone else, and would have opposed the marriage. But Instead of doubting Iris, Celestine was wagging her tail like a dog following its owner.

“What the hell did she do to you?”

“What did she do to me? Why are you acting so twitchy? She didn’t do anything to us, and she didn’t torment Kei. Everyone is doing well and happy, so why are you trying to butt in and throw a tantrum?”

“What kind of tone is that talking to your brother…!”

“Brother is a jerk. We’re busy, so get out of here.”

Celestine, who was in the middle of decorating the wedding hall, waved her hand as if it was tiresome.

Edward looked at Melanie, who was next to Celestine with the expression of, ‘Hey, Isn’t she weird?’ but Melanie responded with a smile that read, ‘Can you blame her?’

‘I’m the only one who’s normal in this mansion. No, if it’s Kei…’

The last person he could trust was Keivrand.

Maybe Keivrand first noticed that there was something strange about Iris, so he chose to marry her to keep her around and observe.

Keivrand can’t see the soul, but he has a bright eye for people.

Edward decided to trust his brother.

“Kei!”

Edward, who opened the study door without knocking, first examined Keivrand’s soul.

Keivrand’s soul was shining as silently as ever.

“Eddie.”

Keivrand sat in his chair as he looked up at Edward. He looked unhappy, but Edward spoke without care.

“Something is wrong with that woman.”

“I hope it’s not my wife who you just called that woman.”

“I’ll be honest with you. Yeah, at first I thought you were crazy about marrying Duke Whittle’s daughter, and I just didn’t like her either. The flower of Duke Whittle. It’s funny, that kind of thing.”

Keivrand nodded as if for him to continue.

“I was wary, and I took a look at her soul. But at that moment, her soul moved strangely. I almost got bewitched. This Edward Green could have been possessed.”

“Well.”

“Her soul is suspicious, brother. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s like… it’s like another soul mixed into her soul. Something is attached to her. She’s not normal, brother.”

“I know.”

‘I knew it!’

Edward inwardly shouted ‘thank god.’ He knew Keivrand would have noticed.

“Irie is a very special woman.”

But somehow, Keivrand’s expression was strange.

“The more I see her, the more new feelings emerge. It always surprises me.”

Keivrand looked very happy and cheerful. Edward had never seen him smile like that.

Edward was as surprised as when he saw Iris’ suspicious soul, no, maybe more surprised.

“What are you doing, Kei?”

“What am I doing?”

“Why are you smiling so stupidly? Have you lost your mind?”

“Have I?”

Keivrand rubbed his mouth with one hand.

“Well, people say that love turns you into a fool. I guess I’ve become a fool.”

Edward was speechless. He shook his head while staring at Keivrand with his mouth open.

“Everyone is crazy.”

“Crazy is you, Eddie.”

Keivrand erased his smile and slowly got up and walked in front of Edward. His gaze sank coldly on him.

“I chose Iris, and she became my wife. But you were rude to Iris today, calling her Iris Whittle.”

“Jamie, he…”

“Edward Green. I don’t want you to be rude to my wife.”

Keivrand gripped Edward’s shoulder hard.

It was a powerful grip as if it could crush his shoulder blades.

Edward could see how angry Keivrand was and how much angrier he would be if he ignored his request in the future.

He liked and respected Keivrand, so he didn’t want to be hated. That’s why he didn’t want to believe this situation.

“Kei, don’t tell me…You’re abandoning your brother because of a woman?”

“It’s not a woman, it’s my wife. If Iris is rude to you first and tries to harm you, I’ll fight Iris for you. But I think it’s the other way around, Eddie.”

That was true.

“I don’t want to fight my brother. But you have to understand why I’m doing this. That woman…No. Iris’ soul is clearly not normal. You have to believe what I saw, brother.”

“I believe you.”

“And yet you’re throwing me away like this for that woman, Iris?”

“No matter what form of soul Iris has, I believe in Iris, who I have seen and experienced so far. And Eddie. I’m not throwing you away, I’m scolding you for being rude to my wife.”

More strength was put into Keivrand’s hand that held Edward’s shoulder.

Edward looked into Keivrand’s eyes. Keivrand’s eyes shone confidently as if he had full trust in Iris.

If Keivrand believes in Iris, there must be a reason. Edward believed that Keivrand was not the kind of man to be possessed by Iris’ strange soul.

“I hope your choice is right. But even if brother’s choice is wrong.”

Edward slapped away Keivrand’s hand.

“I’m not going to treat you like how you did to me just now.”

* * *

Keivrand knew Edward was hurt, but he didn’t intend to comfort him.

He can understand why Edward was suspicious of Iris.

From the perspective of Edward, Keivrand, who wasn’t interested in women, suddenly said he would marry ‘the flower of Duke Whittle,’ he must have judged that there was a reason for that.

So he carefully observed her, and he found something strange about her.

Even so, Iris was Keivrand’s wife. No matter what he said in front of Keivrand, it was wrong to be rude in front of Iris.

‘Another soul…’

After Edward left, Keivrand recalled the conversation he just had with Edward as he went to his room to check the replies he had received from the wedding invitations.

‘Edward couldn’t have been mistaken. There must be something special about Iris’ soul.’

Edward had said that he had never seen anything like it before.

‘Does that have anything to do with how Iris seems to know about the future?’

But that was no reason to doubt Iris.

Everyone has at least one special gift.

Keivrand was able to suppress the power of the sacred relics, and Edward had the power to see things like grudges and obsessions.

The identity of Iris’ power was unknown, but as long as it didn’t harm Keivrand, it didn’t matter. He was convinced that she wouldn’t harm him.

Iris was lying on the sofa in her bedroom reading a book. She didn’t even notice how focused Keivrand was.

Keivrand stood in front of the door for a moment and looked at Iris, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t see what Edward called ‘soul.’

‘What does Iris look like in Edward’s eyes?’

She was just beautiful in Keivrand’s eyes.

“How long are you going to keep staring at me like that?”

Iris asked with her eyes fixed on the book.

When Keivrand heard her voice, a smile spread naturally across his lips. He went to Iris’ feet and sat down and asked.

“When did you know I was here?”

“Since you came in.”

“I thought you were focused on the book.”

“I’m not good at concentrating.”

Iris said frankly, turning around and lying down.

Her tiny, fine feet glimmered in Keivrand’s sight. He grabbed her slender ankle and pulled it.

Her body was dragged all the way, and her small feet were placed on his thigh.

‘How can she walk on these little feet?’

Keivrand pressed her big toe with his thumb and index finger.

“Ah…”

Iris’ groan through her red lips sounded strange.

Keivrand wondered what she would look like if he licked her round big toe like a candy.

But now wasn’t the time to set fire to his warm desire.

“I heard Edward was rude to you. I apologize for that, Irie.”

For some reason, Iris had a strange look on her face.

An expression of surprise, sadness, and joy.

Iris would look like this from time to time.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Oh, no. I didn’t know I’d get an apology for this. It’s okay. Edward’s suspicions are reasonable.”

“It’s not reasonable. I chose you and you’re my wife now even if we haven’t had our wedding.”

“Kei, I’m the one who made the choice. I actually blackmailed you into marriage. Did you forget?”

He had forgotten. Only after it was pointed out by Iris did he remember.

“Rather, it’s strange that your mother, father, and Celestine are so nice to me without any doubts.”

“It’s not strange, Irie. My parents and Celestine trust and love me, so they trust and love the woman I chose. That’s natural.”

This natural thing, Iris didn’t know. Keivrand could guess, seeing her puzzled expression.

Just as he had thought, Iris thought to herself.

‘That’s natural? Trusting and loving the woman Kei chose, just because they trust and love him?’

Iris was thinking that.

In her previous life, Alfred’s family didn’t do the natural thing.

‘No, it wasn’t like Alfred loved me in the first place.’

Every time a good moment came with Keivrand, Iris recalled how much she hated Alfred.

She wondered how long it would take to completely get rid of such memories.

“I’ve thoroughly reprimanded Edward, but maybe he’ll be rude to you again. When that happens, I give you permission to slap him, Irie…”

Keivrand seemed nervous about Edward, but Iris wasn’t bothered much about the problem with Edward.

It is arrogant to want everyone to like themselves. If they don’t like her but don’t harm her, it doesn’t matter.

After Iris smiled back at Keivrand, she checked the invitations he had dropped on the table earlier.

Since it was the wedding of the Green family, those who responded were also of high status.

Among them, there was a name that stood out.

Crown Prince Iobet Obsius.

‘I can’t believe the Crown Prince is coming…’

Except for business related matters, the Emperor and the Crown Prince rarely came out for such trivial matters. Especially for the Crown Prince, who often hid himself until he ascended the throne since there were many people eyeing the position.

As Iris stared at the Crown Prince’s reply, Keivrand explained.

“I’ve known the Crown Prince, Iobet, for a long time. When I was a kid, I studied with him at the Academy for a while.”

“Oh, I see.”

Iris replied half-heartedly, trying to recall what had happened to the Crown Prince around this time in her previous life.

‘I think the Crown Prince was trying to open some kind of business…What was it again?’

Trying to recall her memories, she didn’t even realize that Keivrand had wrapped her shoulders and pulled her.

“Irie.”

It was only when the low-pitched voice swept through her ears did she remember that Keivrand was still with her. Keivrand grabbed her small chin with his thumb and index finger and turned her towards him.

“Don’t make me so jealous.”

== Translator’s Note ==

1. Please report any typos, grammatical/spelling errors, sentences you find weird, and other etc…in the comment section .

2. Chapter 38 through 45 has been proofread, edited, and cleaned up.